Starting Over
by Eliza4892
Summary: She's been running for so long that she's forgotten how to stand still.


The hallway was long, gray, and familiar. She'd been down it so many times in the past five years that it felt routine. It was hard to believe this would be the last time she did so. It should be a happy event, it was one she had looked forward to for a long time, and wasn't supposed to come to pass for a while yet. But she hadn't started anything up with the other inmates, she had done anything they told her to. They said she was to be released early on good behavior. She was free. Free with no idea what to do now.

Naturally it was assumed that she'd have someone who would come get her on the day of her release. They gave her one phone call, and she had sat in front of the phone, unable to will her fingers to dial the number and let her hear the voice she so badly needed to hear from. She would only mess up his life again. It was why he hadn't come to visit her. In fact she hadn't seen him since her sentencing, when, as they were leading her out, she finally noticed him, in the row farthest back, like he had come in the middle of everything, and didn't want to disturb the goings-on. She'd bit her lip, and quickly looked away from him, unable to meet his eyes, and then the doors had closed behind her.

Sawyer had come by to visit her twice, both in the first year. They talked, and she knew he was withholding something, but she didn't dare ask him what it was. If it was bad enough for Sawyer to keep his mouth shut about it then she wasn't sure she wanted to know. The last time, he told her he was heading into Vegas, that he would be back to see her in a month or two. He never came again.

Three months afterwards Charlie showed up, saying he was passing by and thought he'd pay her a visit. Claire wasn't with him. She was in Sydney visiting relatives with Aaron. They'd gotten engaged five months ago. Their wedding was in four. She would miss it. She asked if he knew anything about Sawyer's whereabouts. He'd laughed, and said Sawyer was stuck in jail yet again. Some small charge, enough to put him in the slammer for a few months, Charlie couldn't remember exactly what it was. When he'd left he promised Claire would come by one day soon.

It was the third year before anyone else came. Sun sat down across from her, seeming nervous, looking behind her shoulder every now and then. She looked different. Kate understood why when Sun told her she'd run from her father, but instead of doing it alone, like she'd once planned, Jin had run with her. Sun had quite a bit more gossip about the islanders to share. Claire had kicked Charlie to the curb a few months after the wedding. Driveshaft was taking up more of his time than she was, and she was sick of him gallivanting around with the band's groupies. That was probably why Claire hadn't come to see her. They'd sat in silence after about twenty minutes, and it was then that Kate finally conjured up enough courage to ask about Jack.

Sun had paused, and Kate thought she might not get an answer. But the other woman finally spoke up. "He's married. His ex-wife was pregnant when she left him. They decided to give their marriage another try for their daughter."

Kate had felt tears well in her eyes, but she forced them back, and put on the best smile she could muster. She didn't know why she did, she knew Sun could see right through it. "That's – that's great for him."

"I'm sorry, Kate." Sun told her, looking like she truly wished she hadn't been the one to break this news. "I know you loved him."

Sun had stayed for a few minutes afterwards, just to make sure Kate was going to be able to handle this, but then she left, throwing a reassuring smile over her shoulder as she walked out. She hadn't been back either. And Kate decided maybe it was better that way. She only felt worse after her fellow survivors visited. So in her last year there, when the guard said someone was there to see her, she'd told him to turn whoever it was away. She never asked who it was. She didn't want to know.

She passed the cells that lined the hallway with barely any response from the occupants. The early time might have contributed to that; there was a good half hour left before everyone had to be up. Her cellmate had been asleep when they'd come to get her and she didn't stir as Kate walked out. Not that Kate minded so much. The two of them had clashed since they first became roommates three years ago and it never got any better.

In the last cell before she reached the doors a small woman sat pressed up against the wall, with her knees brought up to her chest, sent a small smile Kate's way and she mouthed back 'Goodbye' with a sad smile of her own. Joanna was possibly the only one who kept to herself more than Kate did. She was incredibly shy. She was there because she killed her mother. Kate couldn't begin to wonder how a girl like that could even think about such a thing. But people surprise you; Kate of all people should know that. Still she tried to befriend the young woman, and it had worked to a degree.

Ron, the security guard, met her and her escort at the door, winking at her as the man with her undid the metal restraints. She managed a smile in return. He was the closest thing to a real friend she had there. He seemed to understand her better than most people did, or at least he put on a good act to that effect. She told him about her time on the island, and he in turn shared stories of his life as a missionary. The night before she'd admitted she was scared to leave, because she was so used to running that she'd forgotten how to stand still now that she didn't have to run anymore. He'd offered to help her out, but she declined, knowing she would have to find her own way sooner or later. Might as well face it head on right away. Now, as the door opened, and the sun blinded her, forcing her to squint against it, she had second thoughts on her decision.

"You be careful out there, Katherine." Ron warned, as the officer walks away, back down the hall she had just come from. "You've got my number. If you ever need anything just give me a call." He didn't seem like he cared that he could possibly risk his job by housing an ex-fugitive. Either way, it wouldn't look right.

She nodded anyway, "I will." Slowly, she turned away from him, to look out ahead of her. The large parking lot was almost empty, save for a few cars parked to the right. Staff cars. She already visitor's parking would be empty, no one was allowed to visit this early. Past the parking lot was a long road that stretched far both ways. There were no buildings for at least a few miles, she knew that much. Prisons were always kept away from the populace. She would have to walk to town.

"Katherine." She hadn't noticed that Ron still stood there, with the door open. He wasn't looking at her though, so much as over her. There was still a smile on his face, as he said, "I thought you said you had no one."

Kate knit her eyebrows together, looking down. "I don't." She didn't quite understand his comment.

His smile held steady, and it was beginning to bother her. "Well then who's that?" Her eyes followed the finger he pointed, widening when they met a pair of familiar chocolate brown ones.

As it turns out there was someone in the visitor's parking lot at this early hour. A lone car, dark blue and compact in size. And in front of it stood Jack. His short hair was grayer, and the tan he'd had the last time she had seen him had faded considerably, but it was still him. And he was starting to come towards her.

She knew she looked like a deer in the headlights, when he reached her, and that was probably what made him stop, with barely a foot separating them. He studied her for a moment, and she wanted to speak, to turn away from him, but she was frozen in place. Then his arms went around her waist, pulling her close to him, his breath warm against her cheek, and she found herself not quite believe that any of this was really happening. "God I've missed you."

After a moment, in which she grasped onto him tentatively, he pulled back, looking at her with concern on his features. She tried to speak twice, before the words made it past her lips. "What are you doing here?"

Jack frowned, "I came to get you." He looked out in front of them, gesturing, "What were you going to do? Walk to the nearest town." She looked down. "Okay, apparently you were."

"Why are you here Jack?" She asked him, now that the initial surprise had worn off. He gave her a confused look. "Sun told me you were married. That you got back together with your ex." Now it was his turn to look away from her, shaking his head as if he understood her reluctance. "Why are you here?"

"I came to see you once you know." His comment has nothing to do with her question, and that told her he didn't want to answer her question. "One of the officers here told me you didn't want anymore visitors." She bit down hard on her lip, at both the accusing tone he used and the regret she felt.

"You waited four years to show up, how was I supposed to know it was you." There was something akin to anger in her voice. "Every time somebody came by it was with bad news. It was about Sawyer going to jail, or Charlie and Claire breaking up, or you being married. You didn't even come tell me yourself."

"Kate…"

She cut him off, "No, okay. Just get back in your car and go. You have a life now, and I'm not going to be a homewrecker." It was painful for her to say but it needed to be said. If she was around him she would feel things she shouldn't be feeling for a married man. "You moved on, let me try and do the same."

"What are you—" She turned away from him, but he caught her wrist and pulled her back to him, much like he'd done in the jungle the day they first kissed. "Would you just listen to me." It wasn't a question so much as a command. She stopped fighting him, a sign that he could continue. "I'm not with Sarah anymore. We broke up again."

Surprise lit her features, and then frustration. "Why?"

He grit his teeth. "She cheated on me the first time with my father." A wave of disgust passed his face, and she had to admit it made her a little sick to his stomach. "I can forgive cheating, but with my own father…I left her a year ago. I told her I loved someone else, and that we were over a long time ago. "

Kate wasn't sure why he was recounting all this to her until she realized the someone else he loved was her. She looked up into his eyes, to confirm her thought, and he nodded, like he could read her mind. There were times on the island when she was almost sure he could. Still she shook her head, "I can't just…"

"I know that." Jack replied. He knew she couldn't just pick back up were they had left off. It had been way too long for that. "Can we start over?"

She took a deep breath, thinking it over, unsure. But she had missed him. And there was a part of her that still loved him. It was a leap of faith, but it was one she could afford to take. What did she have to lose? She was in a way starting her life over anyway. "Okay. I can do that."

It was together that they drove off, away from her old life. And Kate was both surprised and relieved to find she had someplace to start anew.


End file.
